1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water treatment apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a multi-stage water treatment apparatus. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to a multi-stage water treatment apparatus for producing portable water.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
As disclosed in the above referred to co-pending application, a need exists for water treatment systems that remove organic, inorganic, radiological, and microbiological contaminants from water, thereby rendering the water suitable for human consumption. The co-pending application teaches a water treatment apparatus that removes these contaminants by passing the water through a housing comprising two chambers, each of which contains a plurality of layers of treatment materials; these treatment materials include silver impregnated activated carbon, activated carbon, iodine resin, and a mixed bed of cationic and anionic resins. While the water treatment apparatus of the co-pending application is efficacious, further experimentation has revealed that its usefulness may be improved by adding more and different layers of treatment material in different configurations, and by enabling continuous, as well as batch, filtration.